Migrants who come to Britain must uphold its traditions, not change them

Why did the Conservatives not lower immigration? After all, we promised to do so at each election and yet the numbers kept going up. The answer is threefold:

First, we assumed simply instructing civil servants to lower immigration was enough. A naive belief that all officials are thirsting to deliver the government’s agenda. In reality, many actively obstructed it.

Second, we left limiting migration solely in the hands of the Home Office. Other departments like the Treasury and Education were actively demanding more immigration as a way to deliver growth. The fact that we have high immigration and low growth has still not defeated this argument.

Third, there is a feeling amongst politicians from all parties that talking about immigration in terms of culture as opposed to economics is controversial. The fear of being labelled xenophobic or “culture warriors” leads many to say “People don’t mind immigration as long as it is legal and those who come here work hard and stay out of trouble”. This is a very low bar for deciding who comes into our country.

I speak as someone from an immigrant background. Being born in the UK was like Charlie Bucket finding a golden ticket in his chocolate bar.  I really did win the lottery. I love Britain with the knowledge of how special this country is and how many opportunities it gave me. I also have a hard-nosed view on immigration.

The qualities which make Britain special mean that there will always be more people wanting to come to this country than we can reasonably support. Many of them have no particular interest in the future and success of the UK. It’s just a better place to be.  So, as citizens and taxpayers, we must have rules.

We need to demand that those who come here love this country and will maintain and uphold its traditions, not change them. It is not enough that they work hard and avoid crime.

A proper immigration strategy should start off with three principles: Numbers matter. Culture matters even more. Leadership starts from the top. Our points-based immigration system failed on all three counts.

You cannot police, plan or provide public services if you don’t know how many people are in your nation or due to come. There’s a reason that infrastructure seems to be creaking – despite the amount we’ve spent. It’s because demand has shot up faster. A migrant can arrive with their possessions and their skills but can’t bring a new home, hospital bed or school place.

What they can bring is their culture.

Culture is more than cuisine or clothes. It’s also customs which may be at odds with British values. We cannot be naïve and assume immigrants will automatically abandon ancestral ethnichostilities at the border, or that all cultures are equally valid. They are not. I am struck for example, by the number of recent immigrants to the UK who hate Israel. That sentiment has no place here. We must recognise that the world has changed. When I moved back to this country 30 years ago, it was impossible to communicate quickly with my family. Letters would take weeks to arrive, I had to schedule calls with the few people who had working telephones let alone mobiles.

Today’s immigrants, even those arriving on boats come with WhatsApp and Instagram. Their feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin. We need an integration strategy that takes this into account.

Our country is not a dormitory for people to come here and make money. It is our home. Those we chose to welcome, we expect to share our values and contribute to our society. British citizenship is more then having a British passport but also a commitment to the UK and its people.

This is why leadership matters. We have lost trust because we promised again and again to lower migration and failed to do so. Without trust, more promises to cap migration, or leave the ECHR are not credible. Who can be trusted to solve this issue? The answer is someone who has a record of delivery, not failure. As Business Secretary, I removed the European Court of Justice’s supremacy from UK Law in December 2023 and 4,000 EU regulations we did not want with it. This was one of the most difficult bills to pass in the last parliament, but I got the job done.

I can do the same with our immigration challenge. And unlike others, I have a record of saying winning arguments against the left-wing establishment like I did against Keir Starmer and Nicola Sturgeon on extreme gender ideology, forcing them to reverse their policies.

The next Government must change all aspects of our approach to migration. As an engineer, I know that pulling one lever is often not enough. If elected, I will develop the fullest and most detailed plan to control immigration that any political party has ever proposed. It starts with domestic not international legislation. That means fixing the problems with the Human Rights Act and returning to the principle that “politicians decide and judges interpret”. We must fix the broken system that means ministers and MPs don’t know how many have come into the country in real time. This is madness. We need to deal with the culture in our public sector that does not like doing difficult things.

We will end illegal migration by proper enforcement and inserting whatever deterrent is necessary into the system. And, yes: if necessary, we will leave, international frameworks like the ECHR which were built for another age and are being bent out of shape by legal activism. But that will be part of a full plan, not just a throwaway promise to win a leadership contest. Reducing immigration is our objective. We lost sight of that in government.

On top of an immigration strategy we will develop a full integration strategy, both for those here and those yet to come. We must never allow our tolerance to be taken advantage of by those who arrive, only to undermine the very values that have allowed us to succeed.

Unfortunately, we will have to endure up to five years of a Labour government first. I will not waste that time and will be ready whenever an election is called. We tried but did not succeed in reducing migration. Labour will not even try.

I am tired of hearing political promises that never get delivered. Don’t look at those making promises. Look at the person who has principles and a plan. If we want a different kind of politics, we’re going to have to vote for it.